Being Ripped Apart
by CapCM
Summary: "It's been two weeks since the accident..."


**This is a short one-shot that's just over 2 pages. It's based on a video that Butch Hartman released on his YouTube channel last year. There's not really any trigger warnings that I can think of other than some pain. Anyways, hope you enjoy!**

Sam nervously adjusted her pack as she slowly nudged open the rusted metal door. Tucker grabbed onto her shoulder as they entered the dark room. "Get off of me, Tucker," she demanded quietly.

"Sorry," he muttered, letting go of her. "I just get nervous whenever we come here. How long do you think we can fool his parents?"

"Well, as long as they don't talk to either of our families, they'll never know that he's not on a school camping trip," she responded, reassuring the both of them.

"Sam?" an echoey voice called. "Tucker?"

Sam turned back around, staring deeper into the darkness. A pair of brightly glowing, green eyes extracted itself from the shadows. Tucker took out his PDA and hit a button on it, activating its flashlight function.

The light shone on Danny, making him wince and cover his eyes. "Come on, Tucker," he groaned. "Night vision."

"Right. Sorry," Tucker apologized, lowering the light.

Danny sighed as he lowered his hand. Sam approached him and crouched down onto the damp floor, taking her backpack off. "We brought you some food," she explained as she unzipped the bag and reached inside.

"Thanks," Danny muttered.

"Have you figured out how to turn back yet?" Tucker wondered.

"No," Danny answered. "I keep trying, but it hurts. It's like my body is rejecting itself."

Sam pulled out an apple and a bag of grapes and handed it to Danny. He took the two fruits without a word and took a bite of the apple.

"How're Jazz and my parents?" Danny asked, his voice dull despite its new echo.

"They're fine," Sam said. "Jazz is still doing psychology research, and your mom and dad are messing with the portal."

"Of course they are," Danny sighed, taking another bite of the apple. "Anything I missed in school?"

"Just a completely useless presentation assignment in history from Lancer," Tucker commented, getting Danny to at least huff in amusement.

"I brought you my textbook to borrow over the weekend so that you can keep up," Sam informed, taking the book out of her bag.

Danny nodded and took the book from her hand. He was about to take another bite of the apple when a stabbing pain in the center of his chest made him cry out and drop it. He gripped his chest and curled in on himself in a vain attempt to quell the pain.

"Danny!" Sam called.

"Dude!" Tucker added, dropping to his knees and putting a hand on Danny's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Danny panted as the pain died down. He took a few deep breaths before answering. "Yeah. Happens all the time."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Sam demanded.

"I didn't want to worry you," Danny sighed, sitting back up. "It happens a lot less frequently now than it used to."

"Well, that's good, right?" Tucker said, trying to be optimistic. "Maybe when it stops, you'll be able to change back."

Danny just nodded. "Thanks for coming by, guys," he muttered, making and effort to seem unbothered by the lingering pain.

"No problem, man," Tucker dismissed.

"We'll be back tonight with dinner," Sam reminded, zipping up her bag and standing back up.

"Maybe some Nasty Burger?" Danny suggested.

Tucker chuckled. "I was wondering when you were gonna get sick of Sam's fruit."

"Hey!" she yelled, punching him in the shoulder.

Danny smiled and laughed lightly. "Say 'hi' to everyone for me, will you?" he asked.

"Of course," Sam said, shouldering her purple school bag.

"We'll see you later, dude," Tucker added, waving goodbye as he followed Sam back out the way they came.

Danny looked down at the textbook, grapes and dropped apple and sighed emptilly as the door slammed shut. Just one more try. It had to work eventually.

He squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fists in anticipation of the pain. He focused on what it felt like to be human-his heartbeat, warm blood coursing through his body-and tried to force away his ghost body. He screamed as then usual flash of white light burned him, but he didn't stop this time. The slowly moving white light seemed to burn him from the inside out. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that he was a vampire being forced into sunlight. He somehow got the strength to keep going, to keep pushing away the cold feeling of ectoplasm. There was a warmth in his torso that was slowly expanding, reaching his legs and shoulders. That was blood, humanity. He clung to it, straining to make it grow.

Eventually, the searing pain suddenly stopped, allowing him to relax. After a few minutes, Danny managed to open his eyes, only to find himself in complete darkness. He couldn't even see the texbook and fruit that were at his feet. He wasn't cold. Just to make sure, Danny pressed two of his fingers to the side of his neck, checking for a pulse.

He smiled and let out a disbelieving laugh. He had done it. He was human again.

Danny hissed as the pain suddenly returned, but it was over much more quickly. The dull thudding under his fingertips suddenly stopped, and the windowless warehouse he was in was light again.

Danny dropped his hand and opened the bag of grapes Sam had brought him. It's been almost two weeks, but he finally managed to change back. It didn't last very long, but it was progress.

* * *

"Do you think there's a way to help him?" Tucker wondered, as he and Sam turned a corner and onto her street.

"I don't know," she sighed. "We know even less about ghosts than he does. I think this is all we can do."

The two stopped outside Sam's house. "Well, fingers crossed that he can change back," Tucker offered, holding up his hand and crossing one finger over the other.

"Yeah," Sam emptily agreed. "Fingers crossed."


End file.
